By John Valentik, MS, CSCS, NASM-PES, CES

Any regular readers know that I’m a Philadelphia sports fan. I still have very fond memories of attending Sixers games with my Dad during the days of Allen Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo, and Aaron McKie. In one memorable season, those players took home the NBA MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Sixth Man of the Year awards. For a while, it felt like the future was bright.

Then came some difficult years.

As the losses piled up, the organization adopted a simple rallying cry: Trust the Process. The phrase became associated with the rebuilding years that eventually led to the arrival of Joel Embiid. While the Sixers haven’t yet achieved the championship that fans have hoped for, the message itself remains powerful.

The concept of ‘the process’ is often attributed to legendary football coach Nick Saban. At its core, the process means focusing less on the scoreboard and more on the actions that ultimately determine the score. It means paying attention to the daily habits, routines, and decisions that move us toward our goals instead of obsessing over outcomes we can’t fully control. In sport, that includes the next rep, the next practice, the next meeting, etc.

As this article is being published, Paige and I are likely somewhere on a 56-mile bike ride as part of the Happy Valley Half Ironman. By the time you read this, I hope we’ve posted a few smiling photos and successfully crossed the finish line. But whether the day goes exactly as planned or not, I know one thing for certain:

I trust my process.

The race itself is only a handful of hours (maybe a little more 😀). The process has been more than a year in the making.

It has been the early morning workouts. The long bike rides. The brick workouts. The runs. The days we felt great and the days we didn’t. It has been choosing to exercise when motivation was nowhere to be found. It has been making healthier food choices, prioritizing recovery, and finding ways to train while balancing careers, raising two wonderful children, publishing a book, and managing all of life’s other responsibilities.

The finish line may be the visible reward, but the real work happened long before race day. This lesson extends far beyond endurance sports.

Many of us spend our lives fixated on point A and outcome Z. We want the promotion, the healthier body, the stronger relationship, the financial freedom, or the greater sense of peace. Those goals are important. They give us direction. But we often overlook the reality that success is built in the space between. The process is B through Y. For context, check out a previous social media post below!

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZGh1L3hxS_/

It’s the daily walk that eventually improves your health. It’s the healthy meal that becomes a healthier lifestyle. It’s the difficult conversation that strengthens a relationship. It’s the chapter read before bed, the dollars invested each month, and the small acts of discipline repeated over and over again.

As James Clear writes in Atomic Habits, goals are the scoreboard, but systems are the game. The scoreboard matters, but it only reflects the actions that came before it.

Should you have goals? Absolutely! Have a vision for where you want to go. But don’t become so focused on the outcome that you lose sight of the process required to get there.

Trust the workout. Trust the healthy meal. Trust the conversation. Trust the daily habits.

Trust the process.

Progress is rarely the result of one giant leap. More often, it comes from small steps that consistently build upon one another over time.

You have it in you. Now get moving!